Saved
by SirMandokarla
Summary: The war between the Empire and the Republic has torn apart worlds, nations, and families. In the midst of such devastation, simple acts of kindness are often too little, too late.


Ratana was quiet. She'd tried calling for help the other day, after she'd stopped crying. Now she was quiet, and still. She never knew her home could be so scary, but now the bits and pieces were all jumbled, and if she moved they might fall on her. So she stayed still, and hoped it all wouldn't fall on her.

There was a ray of light into her little nook. It came through the wall that used to lead to her kitchen, where she ate with her mom and dad. They hadn't come home yet. At least, she was pretty sure they hadn't. Maybe she hadn't heard them over the explosions? Or the fires. It turned out fire could be really loud if there was enough of it. Like monsters roaring.

The ray of light shone right onto her, because she couldn't move around enough to get away from it. It kept her warm, when the night came, but it didn't keep her from being hungry. Ratana hadn't eaten since her house got broken. And thirsty. Ratana was really thirsty.

And smelly. She hadn't had a bath in a week, because she'd challenged her mom that if she cleaned up her room and did the dishes and everything, she wouldn't have to.

Ratana supposed she didn't have a room anymore. It was probably broken.

She also wished she'd taken a bath. A bath sounded a lot more fun now that she was really dirty and smelly. Her mom would be really mad, too, when she got back. Ratana hadn't been able to reach a bathroom while she was trapped. Mom was going to be really angry about that. The toilet was really important to her.

When the house started shaking again, Ratana tried to cry, but she was too thirsty. The shaking was bad. It meant the bad people were back, and they were coming to drop the rest of her home on her. All she could do was close her eyes and hide them in her knees.

The rumbling and shaking continued, but then something changed. Ratana opened her eyes at the sudden warmth, the real warmth of the sun shining on her. She blinked at how bright it was and weakly raised an arm to shade her eyes.

Then she screamed.

She tried to scream. Her voice was gone, too, just like her home and her food and water and probably her mom and dad and now her because the bad people were back!

The bad person was wearing black robes and she had tattoos with spikes that covered her eyes and made them look dark. She was a twi'lek, and all the twi'leks Ratana had ever met were nice, but everything else was definitely evil and she was going to bring the house back and drop it on Ratana!

"I don't believe it," the bad person said softly, and Ratana heard footsteps. She huddled into her corner, away from the bad person. "You're alright. I found someone..."

Hands touched Ratana, and she tried to scream and curl tighter, but her muscles weren't working very well after so many days in her nook, either.

"It's alright, little one," the woman's voice said, and she sounded like a bad person… but her hands were warm and soft, and they held Ratana's knees and rubbed against her back gently. "It's alright. You're safe now. It's all over. You're safe. You're safe."

Slowly, Ratana peeked at the bad person.

Maybe she didn't really look like a bad person. Her tattoos were spiky and scary, but she had really pretty grey eyes. They were a little bit green, too. Like the sea on a cloudy day. And she smiled just like Ratana's dad, on the days Ratana would come home from school and the other kids had been mean to her. It was a really nice smile. A safe smile.

"You've been in here a while, haven't you?"

Ratana nodded, then gave a little whimper as her sore muscles started to twist and stretch apart and it hurt a lot!

The blue woman's hand moved up from her shoulders to her neck, and after a few seconds the pain started to go away a little.

"You did a good job," the woman said. "I'll take care of you now. I'm going to get you out of here. You're safe now."

Suddenly, Ratana heard a sound, like at the doctor's when she'd needed a vaccine. She tried to turn her head to see, but she hadn't felt anything, and the woman just kept rubbing at Ratana's sore neck.

"We're going to need to get you a bath," the lady said, in just the same tone Ratana's mom always used when Ratana had been playing out in the rain. "Would you like me to carry you? I bet you're tired and don't want to walk. How would you like that? I could carry you, and you can come with me, come somewhere safe."

Ratana liked that idea. It would be nice to be somewhere safe. Somewhere that wasn't cold at night and smelled bad and hurt to sit in.

The nice lady wrapped her arms around Ratana's back and under her knees, then pulled her out of her nook.

Ratana cried out. She couldn't help it. She didn't want to be a baby in front of the nice lady, but everything hurt so much. She wasn't supposed to be moving. It hurt to move. Ratana tried to cry, but still nothing came.

"Shh," the lady twi'lek said softly, "shh. It doesn't hurt too badly, does it? It won't be long, we just need to go somewhere safe. It won't take long. You just have to be strong, like daddy, okay?"

Ratana help back her whimpers at how her back hurt and her neck hurt and her arms and legs hurt, too, and she tried to nod for the nice lady. But it really did hurt. Maybe daddy had never been hurt this much, because it hurt so much, like her body just wanted her gone.

"There's a good girl, Ratana," the lady said, smiling proudly. "Now, I don't want you looking around right now, okay? You can just look at me. Just at me. You're safe, and all you need to do is look at me, alright, Ratana?"

That's right. Ratana was safe, and all she needed to do was look at the nice lady.

The sky was so blue up above. It was lighter than the nice twi'lek lady's skin. None of the clouds looked as pretty as her eyes, though. There weren't many, and they were all white and fluffy, not pretty grey-green like the nice lady's.

"Do you remember going hiking with your daddy, Ratana," the lady asked as she walked. She walked over little hills and around rocks just like when Ratana would get tired and ask her dad to carry her. He'd always grumble and say that Ratana should do it herself and get stronger. "All those adventures you would have in the mountains, how you would run around and find rocks and sticks to play Jedi with? But you'd get tired, just like you are now, and he'd have to carry you sometimes. It was fun, wasn't it? Up so high on the mountains and so high in your daddy's arms? Wasn't that nice?"

Ratana nodded, and it didn't hurt so much this time.

The nice lady smiled down at her, the same smile dad always got when they were about to go hiking. "Well, today we're going on a special long adventure, okay, Ratana? We're going to go get you a bath and change you into a nice new set of clothes. They'll be really comfortable, you'll see. Warm and loose, just like mine are."

That sounded like a nice thing. Ratana couldn't remember what it was like to be comfortable. Still, it sounded nice.

They walked for a long time, and Ratana started feeling a lot better, like her muscles were starting to get better. She did start to get bored, though, and every once in a while she was tempted to look around. Every time, the woman carrying her would whisper, "not yet," and Ratana would kind of mumble an apology and go back to watching the sky.

The lady told Ratana stories.

Some of them were about Ratana, about her favourite memories of her parents, like when she'd been sick at school one day and both her mom and dad had shown up and taken her home. Ratana had needed to go to the hospital, and they'd made her sleep for a bit. Then she had ice cream and jelly for a week while her parents made sure she always had a good night's rest and somebody there to take care of her.

Some of them were about monsters and pirates and bad people, and all the scary things they did, like fight other monsters and pirates and bad people, or make deals with ghosts for power or release ancient evil creatures from captivity.

And when those stories got too scary, the lady would tell Ratana the best stories, about the most beautiful, kindest, most powerful and bestest Jedi in the galaxy. She was young, the lady said, and little and horribly scarred, because sometimes good people don't look pretty and they're just beautiful on the inside, which is where it really matters, anyway. The lady told Ratana how the Jedi was a hero who healed people, always made them feel better, and when she was around nobody ever died.

Ratana asked why the Jedi was so scarred when she was the bestest healer ever, and the twi'lek lady smiled the way Ratana's mom always did before pulling her into a really big hug. The lady said she'd wondered the same thing for a long time, longer than she really should have. She said the truth was, scars are like memories, but on your body. They hurt, but they matter. Maybe the Jedi could heal them, but she didn't want to.

"Like tattoos," Ratana said, reaching up to trace the black ink around one of the lady's eyes.

The lady got a look on her face that Ratana couldn't really understand. It wasn't scared or angry or happy. It might have been a little sad, but it kind of looked surprised, too, and maybe like she was remembering something.

Eventually, she just said, "yes," and didn't add anything else.

Eventually, after many stories, the lady said, "you can look now."

So Ratana did.

They weren't anywhere near her town anymore. They were out in the fields a long ways away, somewhere Ratana had never been before, but maybe she'd flown over it with mom and dad a few times, when they visited the city. There wasn't much but flat land and lots of grass, except for a small speeder.

"We're not there yet, but we can get you cleaned up here," the lady said, letting Ratana down.

Ratana stood on her own two feet without any trouble and smiled. Then she frowned.

"I need to pee," she said, looking down and away.

The lady nodded and went to her speeder. Ratana followed hesitantly. It took a few seconds, but the lady turned around and handed Ratana some supplies.

"Alright, Ratana," she said, "it's just like when you go hiking. Do you remember the instructions your dad always gave you?"

Ratana nodded. "Don't go too far, and come right back. It can be dangerous in the woods."

The nice lady nodded again. "Good. Don't worry, you're safe here. I'll know if there's anything bad around. Once you get back, we'll get you washed up before we get to a bath. Does that sound good?"

Ratana ran off into the grass immediately, and was back in minutes. She found the nice lady on her knees over a bucket of water.

"Hello again, Ratana," she said softly, beckoning her closer. "I think it's about time we got you washed up a bit and into some new clothes. Is that alright?"

"I… I think so," Ratana said, but she shied away.

The twi'lek lady stayed on her knees and made no move towards her. "Don't worry, Ratana. You're safe here. It's just like when you were younger and you would take baths with mommy."

Ratana took a hesitant step towards the lady, who nodded slowly and said, "don't worry. I've done this lots before, when I was younger."

Ratana's eyes went wide. "Are you a mommy, too?" She took a few steps closer to the lady.

A sopping wet sponge came up to cover the lady's mouth as she gave a short chuckle. "No," she said, "and I might never be. But I… took care of people when I was younger. Just like your mommy."

The last of the distance disappeared between Ratana and the bucket, and she asked, "why might you never be a mommy? I thought everyone could be a mommy, if they wanted to."

"Lots of reasons," the lady said as she helped Ratana out of her clothes. "How about I tell you when you're older? It can be something to look forward to."

At Ratana's pout, the twi'lek shook her head and started wiping gently at Ratana's face. "This really is work for pants," she murmured.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. You really should appreciate a good mystery more. Sometimes you can't ask somebody your questions, and you just need to go find the answers yourself. It can be lots of fun. Do you know what an archaeologist is?"

"An archaelgist?"

"Yes, very close. It's somebody who digs up old things, like castles and toys and treasure. They read books and they ask people questions, and they go exploring and dig for things. Then they look at the things they dug up and ask themselves, 'why would somebody make this? What was it for and who used it?' It's a lot of fun."

Ratana made a face, which was safe now because the lady was cleaning her tummy. She was very gentle. "That sounds boring!"

"Oh." The nice lady looked into her eyes curiously. "I need to clean your back now."

Ratana turned around obediently.

"What would you like to be when you grow up, Ratana?"

"A good person!"

"Me, too," the lady whispered.

"What?"

Ratana tried to turn around, but the lady nudged her back and continued cleaning. "What do you mean, a good person?"

Ratana clenched a bubbly fist up high and said, "like the ones who stop the bad people from hurting my friends and dropping my house on me!"

"That sounds scary."

"No, it isn't! It's just like in your stories. The bad people fight the good people and the bad people, and the bad people always get hurt, like that bad lady who talked to ghosts! But the nice scarred lady never gets hurt, because she's a good person. She always saves the day."

"Yes, she does."

Ratana turned around, because the nice lady was starting to sound just like Ratana's mother during a sad holo. When she did, though, the nice lady just smiled at her and said, "we're almost done. Then we can get you into clean clothes."

Ratana nodded.

"You know, Ratana," the nice lady said, "Master Azeel isn't a really good person because she fights the bad people."

"Yes, she is," cried Ratana, stomping a foot and nearly shaking the twi'lek lady off her. "She fights them and makes them stop doing bad things! You said so!"

"But that's not what I said," the lady continued, cleaning as if nothing had happened. "I said she was a good person because she saved the good people. Remember? She heals the good people and the bad people."

"She helps the bad people?"

"Yes, she does. Because she hopes the bad people can be good people, if she's good enough."

"But why?"

"Because, sometimes, they can be, when she does just the right thing."

"But why?"

"Well… I guess, because she's such a good person, they see that and want to be good people, too."

"Why?"

The lady looked up at her one more time, a long look that kept her from cleaning Ratana's toes. Eventually, she said, "don't you want to be a good person?"

Ratana nodded.

"Well, so does everyone else. But sometimes bad things happen to good people, and they think they have to be bad just so that they can live. But then a good person comes along and shows them what it's like to be a good person, to have a good person think you can be a good person. Then they might remember, like some people do, and join her."

"So, when I get older, I can be a good person, and join you?"

The nice lady stood up and went to her speeder. She grabbed a bundle of clothes from the back and brought them back. "Alright, it's time for some new clothes. I don't have new shoes for you, so you'll have to wear the old ones, but I know this will fit if we fix it up just right."

It took longer than the cleaning had, but the nice lady took the clothes she had and put them on Ratana, then cut and sewed here and there until they fit properly. Ratana was allowed a little bit of water and a bar of food while the lady worked.

Afterward, Ratana kicked her legs experimentally, and giggled as her skirt floated back into place.

"I'm afraid I don't own pants," the nice lady said. "I haven't for a long time. Now, would you like to go visit some friends?"

Ratana nodded, and the lady led her onto the speeder. She made sure Ratana was holding tight to her waist, then took off.

It was amazing. The grass flew by, and so did the mountains as they weaved through them, and every once in a while one of the lady's head-tails would tap Ratana playfully on the cheeks, causing her to giggle again.

She called for them to go faster, and they did. It was so fast Ratana was sure they'd fly into space soon. She didn't care. She'd never gone so fast or felt so free. The sun in her hair was warm and the wind so perfect, all she wanted to do was bury her head into the lady's back and never worry again.

Eventually, though, it ended. The speeder slowed and pulled to a stop, and Ratana let go of her warm, safe friend. First, the lady got down, then she helped Ratana down.

It was another town. Little houses and shops up and down streets without many people on them.

"Don't worry," the lady said, "nobody's going to bother us. You're safe with me. We're just going to meet some friends."

They walked together up and down the streets of the town and nobody bothered them. A few times, they came back down the same road, and Ratana had no idea where they were going.

Eventually, the lady walked up to a house they must have passed three times already, and knocked.

A man came to open the door, tall and thin with a quirk in his eyebrow that made him look like he was telling a joke. His eyes went wide when he saw them, and a woman screamed from within the house.

The man started to yell, "a Si-"

"A friend," the lady said quietly, waving a hand that the man's eyes followed.

"A friend," the man repeated, and a woman's voice echoed the same words from inside.

"We've come a long way," the lady said. "Little Renata here got all cleaned up just to come see you."

"Oh!" The man looked shocked for a moment, then said, "I'm terribly sorry, I forgot myself. Please, come in."

"Thank you," the lady said, and Ratana politely echoed her, because that was what nice girls did. Her mom and dad had taught her. They both entered the house and the man led them to the sitting room. The other lady sat down beside him, across from the nice lady and Ratana.

The other lady seemed nice. She had a good smile, like she was excited to see the unexpected.

"Renata, this is Dem Surat and Enshi Surat," the lady said.

"It's nice to meet you," Renata said, just like she should. Mr. and Mrs. Surat said hello, too, smiling happily.

"Dem, Enshi, I don't mean to impose," the lady said softly, "but it's been a few days since Renata has eaten. Would you mind if I borrowed your kitchen for a bit? You three could get to know each other."

Both of them nodded, and Mrs. Surat told the lady that they had a stocked pantry just downstairs, if there was anything she needed.

The lady nodded and, pretty purple eyes glowing happily, she bustled off to the kitchen.

"How are you, Renata?" Mr. Surat asked. "You must be very hungry."

Renata thought about that. She hadn't really noticed her hunger since the nice lady picked her up. Still, she nodded. Then she said, "I had my first speeder ride today!"

"Oh," Mrs. Surat said, "that does sound like fun. Did you get to go very fast?"

Renata nodded vigorously. "Really fast. The nice lady went as fast as she could!"

Mr. Surat glanced at his wife, raising that eyebrow even higher. "Enshi here used to race speeders. She was very good at it."

"Still am," Mrs. Surat said indignantly, and Renata giggled. "Settled in a little town or not. No reason to have less adventures just because there's less people to have them with."

"You stick with that, I'm happy enough with the adventure every time you cook," Mr. Surat laughed. He turned to Renata, ignoring the playful shove from Mrs. Surat. "Enshi likes to find anything she can't pronounce on the holonet and see if she can get enough supplies to cook it every time she takes a trip."

"Ooh," Renata oohed appropriately. That sounded really fun.

"Do you like cooking, Renata," Mrs. Surat asked.

"Nope," Renata said happily.

Both the grown-ups laughed.

"Well, what do you like?"

So Renata told them. She told them about the hikes she always went on with her dad, and how her mom taught her how to paint. She told them about school, and how fun gym class and art were, but how dumb math was. She went on at length about her favourite movies, which were all about spaceships and science, except her favourite, which was about a stranded Jedi who made friends with a group of soldiers and saved a little town just like her home.

The nice lady came back with some water and snacks, and made sure Renata didn't eat too much because she'd make herself sick. "I'll come back with some more in a little bit. Your stomach should be ready by then. Trust me," she said, before winking one of those sparking purple eyes and walking back out.

Mr. and Mrs. Surat told Renata about themselves while she drank her water and ate the snacks, but they made sure to slow her down just like the twi'lek lady had.

They told her how she was a shipping pilot, mostly local but sometimes off-planet, and she got to see the whole world and the whole galaxy. She'd even met a Jedi once, and given him a ride. The two laughed, because the Jedi had paid for the trip by moving all of her supplies onto the ship without any equipment. Renata wasn't sure what was funny about that, but it was pretty amazing to have seen a Jedi.

They told her how he was a small town boy from the core worlds, which was kind of like being a city boy from around here. He was a nurse, a cook, and he loved hiking, too. Sometimes, he'd go on trips with his wife, across the galaxy to new places every time.

"I had to teach this boy how to shoot," Mrs. Surat laughed.

"Which I wouldn't need to know if you'd never taken us to Tatooine," Mr. Surat grumbled.

Renata laughed, too.

Eventually, after many stories and lots of laughter, the nice lady came back, eyes aglow and a grin on her face.

"I've never seen a pantry as well stocked as yours, Enshi," she complimented. "And I dare say I've been more places than even you."

"I'll say," Mrs. Surat said, looking at the food suddenly arrayed across the table. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Well," the lady said with a mysterious smile, "I had a lot of experience cooking when I was younger. It's still best if you eat slowly, Renata. The blue meat to your left should help your stomach expand a little more quickly, if I remembered the spices correctly."

Renata nodded, then immediately ignored the first half of the advice and started scarfing down the blue meat.

For some reason, the nice lady sat on her knees at the side of the table, just waiting. After a couple of minutes, though, she shook herself and went to sit beside Renata. Then she still sat there, looking indecisive.

"Something wrong?" Mr. Surat asked.

The lady shook her head, holding one head-tail from falling. "No," she said, "it's just… I've never actually eaten any of this. I don't know where to start."

All three of them turned to look at her.

"Really? But it all tastes so good. You must have made it many times," Enshi commented.

The lady nodded. Then, looking at all of them, her eyes flared a far more brilliant purple and she said, "there's no need to pay any attention to me. You're seeing your daughter after a very hard day, after all. You must be so grateful she made it home safely, after what the Imperials did to your cousin's hometown."

Renata looked up from the food she was eating and met her parent's eyes. Both of them were on the verge of tears, so she ran over and crashed into her dad, giving him the biggest hug she'd given him since they'd come back from that hiking trip when he'd twisted his ankle and she'd had to help him home. Mom joined in, too, and there was something more to it than every other time she came back from a trip.

They stayed like that for minutes, Renata's parents squeezing her tight, letting her know they'd missed her and worried about her and she'd always be safe with them. They held on until Renata's stomach growled again, and then they all laughed and Renata got to eat while sitting on her dad's lap. She'd been too old for that for years, but today was a special occasion.

A few minutes after that, the door opened, then closed, and everybody turned around to see what it was. After a few seconds, though, they forgot about it, and went back to the meal Enshi had prepared. "Completely experimental," she said proudly, "got it off an escaped slave from Ziost."

Renata thanked her mom and her dad joked that, if Enshi brought this sort of food home all the time, maybe he wouldn't be quite so scared of trying her recipes. Renata punched his shoulder softly for mom. Mom congratulated her on learning well.

Later, after her bath and finally in bed, when Renata was in that half-asleep state just before she finally drifted off, she imagined a pair of eyes meeting hers. Grey-green eyes, but glowing purple, too. They were hopeful eyes. Kind eyes. But sad, too.

 _When I get older, I can be a good person, and join you,_ she thought, and felt a spark of sadness as she finally stepped through that last soft barrier into her dreams. Like she'd lost something she would never find again.


End file.
